This is by far the most common bladderwort species in Massachusetts. The inflorescence usually consists of a few flowers, though typically only one or two are open at a time. A fully developed flower has a conspicuous spur, which is not as straight and thin as the spur in horned bladderwort. This stout curved spur gives the flower a distinctive "smiling doggy" silhouette. The underwater part with bladder traps grows long and massive over the summer.